Day 3 update

Without a doubt, the race of the day was the men’s 5000 meters. Lawi Lalang (Oregon) and Edward Cheserek (Oregon) battled all the way to the finish in one of the greatest college distance races ever. Lalang set the pace, Cheserek made a big move with 200 meters to go, and Lalang hung in there and retook the lead in the last half of the homestretch for the win. Both went under the old meet record, set by Sydney Maree (Villanova) way back in 1979.

Oregon added a third (Trevor Dunbar) and a fourth (Eric Jenkins) to Chelanga’s second and racked up 19 points in this event alone. The Ducks now have 53 points on the board, already equal to last year’s winning score, and have six more quality scoring chances today. The men’s team championship is essentially settled.

Texas A&M is in the driver’s seat for the women’s championship. Oregon currently leads with 43 points but has only two quality scoring chances left, the 200 and 4×400 relay. The Aggies are just two points behind with 41 and have relay finalists in the 4×100 and 4×400 and two finalists in the 200 meters. For the Ducks to have a chance at the win they’d need Texas A&M to leave big points on the table (such as dropping a baton) and get miracle points from Sarah Penney in the 1500, Lauren Crockett in the high jump, and/or Brittany Mann in the shot put. It’s possible, but a very long shot. And even if that happens, Texas is still within striking range since they have scoring opportunities in six of today’s events.

Event recaps

Lawi Lalang (Arizona) beat Edward Cheserek in the greatest 5k race in college history. More from Let’s Run.

Trayvon Bromell (Baylor) won the men’s 100 meters and broke the World Junior Record, becoming the first U20 athlete to run sub-10.00. More from the Waco Tribune.

Shamier Little (Texas A&M) was just third in the 400 hurdles at the SEC Championships but won the NCAA title–but the top five were all from the SEC. The Aggies totaled 16 points in the event. More from the Eugene Register-Guard.

Alabama came away from yesterday’s meet with two individual champions. Redshirt freshman Hayden Reed defeated two-time discus champion Julian Wruck (UCLA) on his final throw of the competition. Remona Burchell won the 100 meters, giving herself a sweep of the indoor and outdoor dash titles. More from the Birmingham News.

Annika Roloff (Akron) was a surprise winner of the women’s pole vault. Texas’s hopes for a women’s championship took a hit when heavily favored Kaitlin Petrillose suffered the dreaded no-height. More from GoZips.com.

Another surprise winner came in the high jump where Bryan McBride (Arizona State) was the only man to record a PR. More from Fox Sports Arizona.

Kendell Williams (Georgia) had such a big lead going into the heptathlon’s final event, the 800 meters, that she could fall down and still win. She did fall down and she won anyway. More from GeorgiaDogs.com.

By the numbers

83
That’s the men’s team scoring record since the current scoring system was put into place in 1985, set by Arkansas in 1994. Only one other team has gone over 80, the 1988 UCLA team. Oregon could threaten that record.

Today’s events

Men’s Triple Jump
12:30pm local time (3:30pm ET)The Favorite: After getting it together and winning the long jump on Thursday, Marquis Dendy (Florida) is the man to beat.The Challengers: Donald Scott (Kansas State), Matthew O’Neal (South Florida) and Donald Scott (Eastern Michigan) are the leading threats.Team scoring: Texas A&M has an entrant but he’s a long shot for scoring.

Men’s Javelin
12:35pm local time (3:35pm ET)The Favorite: Sam Crouser (Oregon) is the top returner from last year and will have the crowd behind him.The Challengers: Ray Dykstra (Kentucky), Fabian Dohmann (Texas) and Tomas Guerra (Western Kentucky) are the ones to watch.Team scoring: Crouser should add to Oregon’s total and held seal the deal for the title. Devin Bogert could help Texas A&M’s fight for second.

Women’s High Jump
12:45pm local time (3:45pm ET)The Favorite: Leontia Kallenou (Georgia) won the NCAA indoor title and has the best PR.The Challengers: Tynita Butts (East Carolina) has a PR just one centimeter less than Kallenou’s. Dior Delophont (Kent State) was third at the NCAA Indoor Championships.Team scoring: Texas (Shanay Briscoe) and Oregon (Lauren Crockett) have chances at scoring points here.

Women’s Shot Put
1:00pm local time (4:00pm ET)The Favorites: Julie Labonté (Arizona) was the 2011 champion and Christina Hillman (Iowa State) was this year’s indoor champion.The Challengers: Missouri’s Jill Rushin has the outdoor season’s best mark, and her teammate Jill Rushin won the SEC title last month.Team scoring: Brittany Mann is a long shot to score for Oregon.

Men’s 4×100 Relay
2:03pm local time (5:03pm ET)The Favorites: Texas A&M, Florida and LSU are far and away the fastest teams in the NCAA. Error-free exchanges may determine who wins.Best of the rest: USC is anchored by Aaron Brown, the best 100/200 sprinter in the meet.Team scoring: Florida has the upper hand for the runner-up trophy but that could change here.

Women’s 4×100 Relay
2:10pm local time (5:10pm ET)The Favorite: Texas A&M is the favorite and has won this event in five of the last six years.The Challengers: USC is the second-fastest team and had the fastest semifinal.Team scoring: Texas A&M could take command with a win or leave the door open by scoring few or no points. The same is true for Florida and Texas.

Men’s 1500 meters
2:18pm local time (5:18pm ET)The Favorites: Lawi Lalang ran a tremendous 5000 meters last night for his eighth career NCAA title. He’ll have his hands full with defending champion Mac Fleet (Oregon).The Challengers: Brannon Kidder (Penn State) and Peter Callahan (New Mexico) are two who could upset.Team scoring: Oregon has two finalists, Fleet and freshman Sam Prakel.

Women’s 1500 meters
2:29pm local time (5:29pm ET)The Favorite: Emily Lipari (Villanova) doesn’t produce fast times but all she does is win.The Challengers: Cory McGee (Florida) is the top returner from last year and has the fastest PR. Pac-12 champ Shelby Houlihan (Arizona State) and Stephanie Brown (Arkansas) scored last year.Team scoring: Florida has two finalists and both are expected to score. Any points that Oregon’s Sarah Penney can contribute would be a bonus.

Men’s 200 meters
2:42pm local time (5:42pm ET)The Favorite: Dedrick Dukes (Florida) is the only sub-20.00 sprinter in the field and one of the few anywhere in the world this year.The Challenger: Aaron Brown finished third in the 100 yesterday and broke the Canadian record in qualifying two weeks ago.Team scoring: Florida should get big points here. Oregon got a surprise finalist in Arthur Delaney.

Women’s 200 meters
2:49pm local time (5:49pm ET)The Favorite: This one is hard to call. Morolake Akinosun (Texas) was second in yesterday’s 100 meters with Jenna Prandini (Oregon) right behind. Olivia Ekpone (Texas A&M) has the fastest PR by quite a bit.Team scoring: This is a very important race. Texas A&M has two finalists and Texas and Oregon have one, and any of the three teams could produce a winner.

Men’s Steeplechase
2:57pm local time (5:57pm ET)The Favorite: Anthony Rotich (UTEP) is the defending champion and won the NCAA indoor mile title too.The Challengers: Stanley Kebenei (Arkansas) is the only man who stands much chance of beating Rotich.Team scoring: Oregon could pile on with Tanguy Pepiot.

Women’s 100m Hurdles
3:19pm local time (6:19pm ET)The Favorite: Sharika Nelvis (Arkansas State) won the 60 hurdles at the NCAA Indoor Championships and has the fastest PR.The Challengers: Tiffani McReynolds (Baylor) and Keni Harrison (Kentucky) could be breathing down her neck.Team scoring: Florida (Bridgette Owens) and Texas (Morgan Snow) each have a finalist.

Women’s 5000 meters
3:24pm local time (6:24pm ET)The Favorite: Abbey D’Agostino (Dartmouth) hasn’t lost a track race to a collegian in about forever.The Challengers: Emma Bates (Boise State) won the 10k on Thursday night and could challenge–if she has anything left in the tank. Kate Avery (Iona) had a great cross country season.Team scoring: Texas is expecting big points from Marielle Hall. Oregon has the last seed in Frida Berge.

Men’s 4×400 Relay
3:47pm local time (6:47pm ET)The Favorite: Florida is one of the few college teams that has broken 3:00.00, doing it at their own Florida Relays.The Challengers: Texas A&M beat Florida at the SEC Championships.Team scoring: This race will determine the runner-up team, or possibly the champions in the unlikely scenario that Oregon takes a nosedive of historic proportions.

Women’s 4×400 Relay
3:55pm local time (6:55pm ET)The Favorite: Texas went 1-3-4 in the open 400 even after two-time defending champion Ashley Spencer came up hurt.The Challengers: Oregon beat Texas by the narrowest of margins at the NCAA Indoor Championships.Team scoring: The top four teams in the team competition are the top four teams in this race.